“It has so much personality,” Lizzie giggled.
Keena rolled her eyes. “It looks sad and has holes.”
Lizzie had batted those dark eyelashes at her and Keena’s heart melted. “It’s perfect for us.”
Keena swallowed hard and yanked open the SUV door, got in and slammed the door. Warm air spilled from the vents and she sighed at how nice and toasty it was. One good thing.
She backed out onto the narrow road lined with snowbanks that led toward town. The further she drove, the more signs of Christmas appeared.
Garland was wrapped around mailboxes. Fake reindeer stood in front of someone’s yard. Wreaths were hung on doors. Even the gas station near the edge of town had strung white lights along its roofline.
By the time she’d reached Evergreen Hollow, her chest had already started to ache. Main Street looked even worse up close.
The sidewalks bustled with people bundled in coats and scarves. Their arms were full of shopping bags and almost everyone carried cups of coffee orhot chocolate. Children laughed as they darted between adults and Christmas music drifted from hidden speakers mounted beneath the eaves of the shops.
It was impossible to ignore the season here. Even the bakery windows were painted with snowflakes and candy canes and the display window in the toy store displayed a model train circling a tiny winter village that looked just like Evergreen Hollow.
Keena sighed and gripped the steering wheel tighter. Why did the Moon Goddess bless her with a mate only to take her away? They had been so happy—she had been happy.
She and Lizzie used to walk these streets in December just like all of these people.
They’d spent entire afternoons ducking in and out of shops and stopped at the bakery every time because Lizzie had insisted that Christmas cookies tasted better when it snowed.
The memory rose so quickly it stole Keena’s breath.
Her phone rang through the vehicle’s speakers before she could sink too far into the ache that had bloomed in her chest. She glanced at the screen and immediately straightened in her seat.
Rue Biljon.
“Morning, alpha,” she answered.
“You’re on your way into town?” Rue’s warm voice came through the speakers.
“I just turned onto Main Street.”
“Good. I need you to make one extra stop while patrolling.” Rue paused for a moment. “The new bookstore is open. I’d like you to check in with the owner. Make sure she’s settling in all right.”
Keena frowned as she turned onto the road that led toward the square.
“The bookstore?” she questioned.
“Hearth and Story. The old Mercer building,” Rue said.
Keena knew the place, everyone in Evergreen Hollow did. The building had stood empty for nearly a year after the previous owner had retired, but the renovation crews had been in and out for weeks working on it.
“I thought the human council was handling the welcome committee?” Keena said. Evergreen Hollow was a town integrated with humans and shifters. They had lived amongst each other in harmony for generations and the humans were just as involved with town business as the shifter community was.
“They are. But this is separate.” There was asmile in Rue’s voice now. It was the one she used when she knew she was asking for something Keena wouldn’t love doing. “New people in town deserve to know that everyone in Evergreen Hollow welcomes them, and since she’s opened a business on Main Street, I’d rather have one of ours check in on her too.”
It meant that Keena wasn’t really being asked.
“Fine,” Keena sighed. “I’ll stop by.”
Rue fell quiet for a moment.
“How are you holding up?”
Keena’s jaw tightened. She knew Rue was eventually going to ask her. She kept her gaze on the snow covered road. The plows hadn’t done the best job clearing the streets.
